Friday, 25 April 2014

Week in Tech: Week in Tech: Apple TV grows, iPad slows, and Facebook explodes on mobile

Week in Tech: Week in Tech: Apple TV grows, iPad slows, and Facebook explodes on mobile

This week's been all about the numbers: Apple's sales figures, Facebook's user numbers and Lytro's new camera which delivers 1080 x 1080 pixels of light ray goodness.


That's not all: Sony's released a superb smartphone, Nike's nixed the Fuelband and details of Windows 9 are beginning to emerge.


Here's what matters this week.


Apple: 20 million Apple TVs but iPad sales slowing


It's time for Apple's latest results, and while it remains a mind-bogglingly profitable company the news wasn't all good: iPad sales have slowed, and we're still waiting for the exciting new products Tim Cook has been banging on about for ages.


Facebook on mobile breaks the billion


More big numbers, this time from Facebook: the social network now has 1.01 billion monthly users on mobile, a 15% increase over last year, and almost as many people as use Facebook the old-fashioned way. To celebrate, it's going to stuff your news feed with even more auto-playing video ads. Thanks, Facebook. Thanks a bunch.


OnePlus One is one to watch


Here's a phone with a unique selling point: the OnePlus One phone is the first smartphone to officially run CyanogenMod, the alternative and highly customisable version of Android. It's "the most surprising smartphone of the year," says John McCann, noting the "impressive specs," "fluid Android interface" and "a price tag which quite simply blows the competition out of the water."


Farewell to Fuelband


It's the end of the road for Nike's Fuelband, but while the fitness firm is pulling the plug on its fitness band its wearable adventures will continue. With Tim Cook on the board and an Apple wearable imminent, it's pretty clear what's going on: as Chris Smith says, Nike wouldn't leave the fast-growing fitness hardware market "unless it has bigger plans afoot." Plans like leaving the hardware "to a specialist and a friend like, say, Apple."


Xperia Z2 makes number 2


The Sony Xperia Z2 smartphone is here and it's a beauty: while it doesn't boast much in the way of gimmicky features or bold design choices, it's packed with features, boasts a great screen and has a fantastic camera. We reckon it's the second-best smartphone money can buy.


Snoop doggy Dogs


With just over a month to go, excitement is building over Ubisoft's next-gen game Watch Dogs - and Lily Prasuethsut reckons it's entirely justified. Hugh Langley agrees: it's "a fascinating look at the terrifying potential of technology" and more real than you might think.


Windows 9 takes shape


Although Windows 8.1 has addressed some of the criticisms of Microsoft's OS, Microsoft "still has a long way to go to produce a unified OS," Joe Osborne says. Windows 9 might be what the world is waiting for: with an expected release in 2015 it promises an improved UI, more apps and maybe even gesture control.


Tripping the Lytro fantastic


We're fascinated by Lytro's light field technology, which enables you to refocus images after you've taken the photo, but it's currently a curiosity rather than a mainstream product. That might change with the Illum, or at least it might when the price comes down: the 40-megaray camera goes on sale in July with a price tag of US$1,599 (about £950 Au$1,708).

















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